*This will be a rough draft for a final paper* Since this is a rough draft you don’t need to add a conclusion just the first 5-6 pages of the paper. I will be also conducting interviews in the next week, so leave spaces open to insert quotes for interviews. I attached an annotated bibliography to help with research, again this is a ROUGH DRAFT*
Research Problem: Immigrants often deal with complex social landscapes that affect their ability to form friendships across cultural and religious divides in increasingly multicultural societies. This research aims to identify and analyze the specific challenges and opportunities immigrants face. Challenges may include language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, prejudice, and the impacts of social and economic inequality. There are opportunities to improve intercultural understanding, social integration, and personal growth. Taking a closer look at these dynamics, this study seeks to enhance social cohesion and integration in multicultural settings by facilitating intercultural and interfaith friendships.
12-15 pages double-spaced. Times New Roman font 12 point. Draws on at least 10 sources, with at least 5 of them peer-reviewed academic books or articles from the humanistic/social scientific literature (NOT medical, science, or engineering journals). The page limit does not include a bibliography, title page, photos/maps, or any other junk. Do not use extensive quotes from your articles; the vast majority of your paper should be in your own words. No copying, no plagiarism. It’s your argument, I want to know what you think.
I’ll be grading these papers rigorously based on the following:
1. Paper topic: How precise is your question? How have you honed it over the semester? Do you have a clear and specific thesis? Is the research significant – that is, meaningful? Do you tell us in what way the research is important, and to whom?
(A great way to test how you will do on this part of the paper is to look back at my comments on your questions and problem statement. Another way is to go back to “The Craft of Research” – are you following the guidelines outlined there?)
2. Research skills: Have you assembled appropriate and peer-reviewed sources from critical social science or humanities scholars? Are these sources in conversation with each other? Have you actually read the papers, or are you just haphazardly citing statistics or blocking quotes from them? This paper is the culmination of all of your research skills developed over the last three or four years; I am serious about it when I say my expectations are high here. A great way to test how you will do on this part of the paper is to look back at my comments on your annotated bibliography.
3. Responding to feedback: How well do you incorporate feedback from your peers? Did you make appropriate changes to your argument or your paper’s construction based on peer comments? A great way to test how you will do on this part of the paper is to reread comments from your peers.
